


Meet the Fiancé(es)

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Kardovistan's Prodigal Prince [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-08-09 11:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16449173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Otabek’s marriage had been arranged when he was very young, and his fiancée – or fiancé, it didn’t matter and wasn’t known yet – hadn’t even been born.  Growing up, it hadn’t been much of a thing for him – he was engaged, his parents would tell him that much, but they wouldn’t tell him anything specific.  Nothing about who his spouse-to-be was.  He found out he had a husband-in-waiting when he overheard his parents talking about potential solutions to succession – it seemed his husband-to-be was an only child, and would need an official mistress to be the child-bearer.  Why this didn’t end up breaking the engagement, Otabek couldn’t say.  Even if they still needed the alliance with Otabek’s people, they could switch the engagement to Otabek’s younger sister, who hadn’t been betrothed yet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Otabek Altin Week Day 4: AU

Otabek had been sent to live in his husband’s country when he was thirteen. He’d only stayed there a year before being sent away again, this time halfway across the world to live with another royal family in North America. The LeRoys were great, but why couldn’t he be home with his family or in his husband’s country learning their ways? It made no sense to him.

It certainly didn’t help that the LeRoys pushed him at their daughter Cécile. No matter how many times he told them he was engaged, they ignored him and encouraged him to go spend some time with Cécile. Even JJ, the one closest to Otabek’s age and otherwise a fun, if somewhat arrogant, guy – even he pushed Otabek and Cécile at each other.

“JJ. I am engaged and she’s thirteen!” Otabek snapped one day after JJ, picking out flowers for his fiancée Isabella, encouraged Otabek to get some for Cécile. “Why are you pushing this so hard?”

JJ shrugged and looked up from the roses he was examining. “Mom and Dad told me to. They’ve told Cécile the same thing, to consider you her future. Maybe they know something we don’t?”

No chance of that. “My fiancé’s male. Cécile isn’t. I asked her.”

JJ burst into surprised laughter. “So that’s what that was about! She was wondering, but didn’t want to ask you to explain. Maybe Mom and Dad are figuring that if your engagement were really that serious, you wouldn’t be here, you’d be with him in his home?”

“I was, before I came here. In his home, I mean. He wasn’t there. They sent him out to live in Russia for a while. I don’t know why I’m here, but it’s not to find a new fiancée.”

 

When Otabek turned eighteen, he’d hoped to be called home, or at least to his fiancé’s country. No luck. He stayed with the LeRoys, although they’d begun preparing him to be ready to go when he finished school in June. Cécile was also being prepared to go, to both of their confusion. Even if there was a reason to expect her to go with Otabek, she wouldn’t be sixteen until August, so she still had two years left of her school.

The night before graduation, Cécile came to find Otabek. “Mom got the call. You and I leave July 1st. Any idea why I’m going with you?”

“Where are we going? My home or his?”

“His. Mom and Dad still won’t tell me why I’m going. I figured you being called there instead of home would mean they’d realize that your engagement is serious and I’d be let off the hook to do my own thing, but apparently not. Any idea why your fiancé’s family would want me there?”

“No… wait.” Otabek flinched as a horrible thought hit him, the only thing that made any sense at all. “Succession. Every time I ask about that, my parents tell me there’s a plan, that they know what they’re doing.”

Cécile’s face scrunched up. “So I’m going as your… breeder? Why keep you involved?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t.” Otabek glared at his bag. “I always thought they’d realize the obvious solution and switch the engagement to my sister. Solves the succession problem without breaking the alliance. Still doesn’t explain why your parents kept pushing you at me, it’s Yuri who needs kids. I’ve got siblings.”

“Yeah, but if I’m going with you…” Cécile shrugged. “What’s he like?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never met him. I’ve met his parents and his uncles and aunt, but not him.” Otabek tried to remember his fiancé’s exact age. “I think they should be bringing him home soon, if they haven’t already? I don’t know.”

Cécile started giggling. “Is _this_ why Mom and Dad insisted that I learn Russian instead of giving me several languages to choose from like they did for some of the others.”

 

Traveling to Kardovistan was a long, tiring process, and when they got there, Otabek and Cécile were immediately taken to rooms instead of taken before the king and queen, or to the prince. “Sleep as long as you like in the morning. When you wake up, ring the bell to alert a servant that you’re awake. You’ll be taken to the king and queen after you’ve eaten, and properly introduced to Prince Yuri tomorrow night.”

“Why tomorrow night? Why wait?” Otabek asked.

“There are ceremonies and rituals to perform, both before you meet and after. Especially for you, since you’re his fiancé, but her highness will have her parts to play.” The servant bowed. “Don’t get too comfortable here, you won’t be here long, but until after tomorrow night we need to keep you away from the prince. Please understand.” He turned and walked away, leaving Otabek and Cécile standing in the hallway. Their temporary rooms were across from each other.

Cécile followed Otabek into his room. “It doesn’t seem like we’re being watched, but just in case, I’ll go sleep in my own room. I just don’t want to be left alone yet.”

The corner of Otabek’s lips twitched into a small smile. “I don’t either. After the crowding at your place, this feels too quiet, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Cécile perched on the desk in the room. “So, these ceremonies. Think they’ll teach us what we need to do tomorrow, or do we just go in clueless?”

“Ugh, I don’t know, I am not prepared for a bunch of ceremonial stuff. Should’ve expected there’d be some sort of ceremony to meeting the prince but come on, really, the day after long travel?” Otabek flopped on the bed, hands on his head. “Given how clueless we are about everything else, why break the mold by telling us anything now, right?”

“Makes sense.” Cécile sighed and got up. “I should go sleep. Hopefully they’re not expecting me to begin succession work tomorrow, but I would bet on a long and exhausting beauty care regime to make sure I look good enough to present.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Otabek Altin Week Day 6: Destiny/God of Victory

Normally, Otabek was an early riser. Normally, he hadn’t just traveled halfway around the world to be presented to his fiancé. They’d said he could sleep as long as he liked, but still, getting out of bed to find the sun was already high threw him for a loop. There were some clothes laid out. They didn’t look anywhere near fancy enough to be ceremonial, so Otabek assumed that he was supposed to put them on now. At least they were comfortable, but why he couldn’t wear his own clothes was beyond him.

The servant who responded to his call looked him over. “Come with me. King Ludomir is occupied by a fight with his son, but Queen Irina is ready to meet you.”

Otabek looked down at himself. “Like this? I thought you were going to feed me, first. Meeting the queen while hungry seems like a bad idea.”

“I don’t know, your highness. I just do as I’m told. Please follow me.” The servant turned and walked off, leaving Otabek with little choice but to follow.

The queen rose when Otabek was brought in, and hurried forward to greet him. Otabek bowed and kissed her hand, as he’d been trained. “Come in. I’m sure you must be hungry. Please, help yourself.” She gestured to a table full of food. “It’s good to see you again, Otabek. Welcome home.”

“Thank you, your majesty. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Otabek took a plate and started loading it up, trying to remember if manners dictated that he eat lightly or not. What the hell. Manners dictated that he have some idea what the hell was happening, and no one seemed to care about that. He was hungry from travel and nerves. If the queen was going to think he was a greedy gluttonous pig, who cared? It’s not like this was a first impression.

Whatever the queen thought of his loaded plate, she kept it to herself. “I know you probably have a million questions. Where would you like to start?”

As curious as he was about everything else, right now, there was one big priority. “Where’s Cécile? Will she be joining us?”

The queen raised one perfect eyebrow, but all she said was, “No, I’m afraid not. She’s well, safe, with Mila to be prepared for tonight’s ceremony. We couldn’t do anything about the two of you traveling together, but tradition dictates that the participants in tonight’s ceremony be kept apart until it was time. You won’t see her until tonight.”

“I see.” It wasn’t good, Otabek wanted to be sure she was all right, but he’d go with it. “Why all the secrecy? You know I have questions, so why not give me straight answers before now?”

The queen gave a wry smile. “Kardovistan is a country built on secrets. We have no army, no walls protecting our borders, and yet we’ve never been invaded. Secrecy and anonymity are our greatest defenses. Almost no one knows we exist, and many of the ones who do think we’re a myth. Secrecy is simply a way of life around here.”

“Oh.” Otabek shoveled some bread into his mouth while he thought that through. It made sense, he supposed. If he depended on people not knowing he even existed to stay alive, he’d probably learn to keep everything close, too. “Why me? Why not someone who can handle succession without the need to involve a third person and expose yourselves to another house?”

“Ah, now that’s a simple question that requires a quite complicated answer. In Kardovistan, superstition holds true power. You’ll notice we are very strict on our ceremonies and our traditions. When it was suspected that I was pregnant, I was taken to the temple for a ceremony to predict my baby’s future. Typically, the ceremony lasts less than an hour – the oracles do their thing over me, I pray at the altar while the oracles deliberate, and they announce some vague prophecy and make a suggestion for where to look for an appropriate mate.”

Otabek paused in his eating, bacon halfway to his mouth. “I take it that’s not what happened with you.”

“No. It was nearly six hours before the oracles finished their deliberation, and after all that, they announced that my child would bring either a golden age of peace and prosperity, or would bring the destruction of Kardovistan. Instead of suggesting simply that we look within Kardovistan for a spouse, or look to eastern Asia, or whatever, they named you. Not your family, not your country. Prince Otabek Altin of Kazakhstan, then not quite two years old.”

“…Huh.” That explained quite a lot, really. “So I’m somehow supposed to guide the prince toward the golden age instead of the destruction?”

“Yes.” The queen smiled. “I suspect it was simply colorful metaphor, but the oracles described you as the God of Victory, the one who would save us by channeling the prince appropriately.”

Otabek took some time to digest that. “I’m no god, but I’ll do what I can. Where does Cécile come into things, aside from the obvious?”

“After the ceremony, the oracles approached Ludomir and me in private. They hadn’t wanted to say anything during the ceremony, preferring to put on a unified front, but there was some dissent about the LeRoys. Some felt that allying with the house would bring destruction, since they’re so big and well-known. It would jeopardize our secrecy. Others felt that as risky as it was, it was necessary to bring about the golden age. We hesitated at first, but when Cécile was born, that made up our mind. We needed a girl, they were part of the prophecy, and now they had a girl who wasn’t already engaged elsewhere.”

Well, that made enough sense that Otabek was willing to drop it. The decisions had been made a long time ago; no sense rehashing it all now. “So what’s going to happen tonight?”

“I can’t tell you much.”

Otabek scowled and stabbed a piece of melon with his fork. “Given how serious ceremonies are around here, I’d think you’d want to let the people involved know what they’re supposed to be doing. I don’t want to ruin things with some bad blunder.”

“This isn’t the Kardovi secrecy, Otabek. Well, it is, I suppose, but I can’t tell you much because I don’t know much about the specifics. I know that there will be formal presentations of the three of you, you’ll be asked to pledge to support each other and work for the good of the country, but beyond that? I don’t know. When I was presented to Prince Ludomir, after the presentation and pledges, there was a play to watch, followed by a ball. It may or may not be the same for you.” A ball. Dancing. In public. In front of everyone. Otabek’s worst nightmare. The queen noticed his discomfort and reached out to pat his shoulder. “To be honest, given what I’ve learned about my son these past few months… I don’t think he’d have much patience with a ball. Not the formal, fancy kind, anyway. The one thing I can promise you, there will be someone by your side the entire time, making sure you know what you’re supposed to be doing.” It wasn’t much reassurance, but at least he wouldn’t be completely blind going in.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri's morning isn't all that great. Yuri's _life_ isn't all that great. At least he finally got to unload it on his father.

Yuri hated it here. In the four months since his parents arrived, everything he thought he knew had been tossed out like garbage. His entire life had been turned upside down. He wasn’t some kid who should feel lucky to have a place in a good school and a chance to pursue his passion. He was a prince. One day, he’d be a king. His own beliefs about what his future should look like were gone. He’d dreamt of being a principal dancer for the Bolshoi Ballet, and while most people would consider being a king a better job, Yuri didn’t care. Kings had a lot of crap to deal with. They had to manage the economy, which Yuri was going to struggle with, diplomacy, which Yuri was really going to struggle with, and deal with all kinds of bureaucratic bullshit, which Yuri was just plain not going to be able to do.

Getting pulled out of school, he hadn’t minded, until he realized what the alternative was. His uncle Viktor was tutoring him now. There were no bullshit filler lessons, no breaks between classes, just intense study. He was basically starting from scratch with Kardovi history, law, and customs, and so much of it didn’t make sense to him. The ceremonies seemed endless. The one officially reintroducing Crown Prince Yuri to the people of the kingdom had gone on for four hours while he met with lords and ladies whose names he forgot almost immediately, stood beside his father when he made a long, boring speech celebrating his return, and had to make an impromptu speech of his own. He had no idea what to say, so he said that.

Then there was the ceremony for the spring equinox. Yuri didn’t have much of a role there, just stand beside his father and look pretty, but that just made it worse. Easter, where Yuri was presented with a glittering golden egg but otherwise was bored to tears. May Day, celebrating spring. Summer solstice. Graduation from the University of Kardovistan, where Yuri handed degrees to his father, who handed them to the president of the university, who handed them to the graduate. It was mind-numbing, but at least he had something to do.

So when he woke up to find two outfits laid out for him – another change from home, he didn’t even get to pick what he wore half the time – he groaned in frustration. These ceremonies sucked, but the worst part was how often he found out about them the day of. After the May Day ceremony, he’d made Viktor go through the list of annual ceremonies. There weren’t any between graduation and midsummer, so what the hell?

He found Viktor to demand an explanation. “Oh, right! This one’s not annual, this is the only time you’ll have one of these for a while! This is for you to meet your fiancés! Sorry, it must have slipped my mind when you were asking about ceremonies.”

“It _slipped your mind_?” To be fair, that’s probably exactly what had happened. Viktor’s memory was awful unless it involved his husband, their adopted daughter, or his dogs. It’s not like he was about to meet some stranger he was expected to spend his life with.

Yes, Yuri had been told that he was engaged when his parents brought him home, but since then, his parents hadn’t said anything. He knew nothing about the person he was engaged to. Yuri had hoped he’d misunderstood something. Apparently not. Out there, he hadn’t given much thought to dating or sex or love, but he’d always assumed he’d figure it out later. He resented having that chance taken from him.

“Yes, it slipped my mind! In my defense, you did ask about ones that happen every year.” Viktor shrugged and mussed Yuri’s hair. “This one’s different, though! This one, you’re going to be the star, it won’t be boring.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know about the ceremony until this morning, how am I supposed to know what to do?” Yuri kicked the wall. Kicking Viktor would be more therapeutic, but then Viktor would get all huffy and Yuri would have to deal with Viktor’s idiot husband the rest of the day. Or worse, he’d have to deal with Georgi. The only problem with having to deal with Yuuri was that Yuuri tended to be pissy if he got stuck with Yuri because Viktor was angry.

“Oh, don’t worry about that! You’ll have a handler beside you, guiding you through everything. The oracles put everything together, and you and your fiancés will each be assigned one to make sure you do what you’re supposed to.” Viktor hugged Yuri. “In a way, I almost envy you. Meeting my fiancé was the best day of my life up to that point.”

Yuri frowned. Something was bugging him. “Wait. That’s twice you’ve said fiancés. The hell kind of kingdom is this? Am I running a harem?”

“No, no,” Viktor reassured him. He stopped, putting a finger to his lips. “Well, some previous monarchs have maintained harems of lovers, and if you do it that’s entirely up to you, but you’ll have two consorts. That’s unusual, but not unheard of, and necessary in your case.”

“What’s so necessary about it in my case?” Yuri scowled as he realized what Viktor was going to say. “Never mind. You can’t tell me. I know.”

Viktor perched on his desk with a big smile. “I can tell you a little. Prophecy required a specific person, but that person is male, so they needed to find you a woman to marry as well for succession.”

“Why? You don’t have a wife.”

“No, but if you fail to produce an heir within ten years, I’ll be forced to take one. I’d really rather not do that to my Yuuri and especially not to Alyona, so please handle matters yourself?”

“I’m sixteen. So not old enough to be a father!”

“No, but you will be by twenty-six!” Viktor chirped. “Besides, it’s ten years from the wedding, and that’s not happening today. You can delay it for a while, if you’d like.” He grinned and hopped to his feet. “In fact, I know it will have to be delayed at least for a while, since your future wife is fifteen!”

“What.” Sixteen was bad enough, wasn’t it? Who shipped a fifteen-year-old off to get married?

“This is just a formality, the engagement was decided long ago, but you can’t marry until everyone involved is at least a young adult. Sixteen. I wouldn’t put it past my brother to attempt to set the wedding for her sixteenth birthday, but I am willing to bet she’d be happy if you pushed for delaying it. I’ve never known a sixteen-year-old to want to deal with pressure to get pregnant!” Viktor winked at him, but Yuri felt ill. When he was a little boy fantasizing about his long-lost parents turning out to have been royalty and he and Nikolai were in hiding to keep him safe, he’d never thought about this part of it. At least he wasn’t a girl. Whoever his bride was, this had to be a million times worse for her.

“I’m gonna go find Dad and make sure he’s not planning anything stupid.” Viktor didn’t try to stop him as he stalked off, wishing he had a tail to swish as a warning to anyone who dared to get in his way.

 

King Ludomir didn’t look at all surprised to see him. “Hello, Yura. I see you’re in good humor this morning.”

Yuri resisted the temptation to tell his father to go fuck himself. It was a distraction from why he was here. “I am not ready to get married. You’d better not be planning my wedding for my fiancée’s birthday.”

“No, of course not, she’ll be sixteen next month and there’s not enough time to arrange everything properly.” Ludomir cracked a smile as Yuri’s hands clenched. “I’m joking, Yura. I had a year with Irina to get to know her as my future wife, and I already knew her a bit because she was born to Kardovi nobility so I met her when I was presented as crown prince and at social functions. You deserve longer. I was thinking you could marry when you’re eighteen. If you decide you want to do it sooner, we can do that, Viktor and Yuuri didn’t know each other at all and got married after only eight months, and they would have married sooner if it weren’t for some sort of miscommunication.”

“Me eighteen, or her eighteen?”

“That would be one to ask the oracles, if there’s a particular time of year you should have your wedding, but I see no reason not to wait for her to be eighteen if that’s what you decide.”

“And you’re not going to ambush me with some sort of deadline tonight?”

Ludomir spread his hands. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, Yura. I really don’t. If you get ambushed with a deadline, it’s not my doing.”

Yuri forced his hands to unclench, but he couldn’t force the tension out of his muscles. He wanted to hit something. “Do you have any idea how frustrating all this secrecy is?”

“Yes, Yuri. I was once sixteen and newly arrived from Russia myself. When I was young, my uncle Ivan told me that I was a prince and one day I’d be taken home, like you’d play make-believe with any child. Realizing that it was all true was quite the shock, and it took me time to get over it. I was just as frustrated as you are that no one would tell me anything about my formal betrothal ceremony. I’m still frustrated sometimes. I’d like to know what’s going to happen tonight, too, and you’d think a king would be able to command his subjects to give him whatever information he wants, wouldn’t you?” Yuri shrugged. He hadn’t thought about it, but now that Ludomir said it, it sounded right. “The oracles often refuse to tell me things. They have their reasons for it, I’m sure, but trying to push them on it could only lead to chaos in Kardovistan, and that’s not good for the country. So I suck it up and deal. You’ll have to decide for yourself, when you’re king, but I hope you’ll put the interests of your country ahead of your personal anger.”

“How is this my country?” Yuri started pacing. “I was kicked out before I could remember anything about it, I didn’t even get told about it as a fairy tale! I may have been born to Kardovi parents, and I guess if Mom was born Kardovi nobility that means Grandpa’s probably Kardovi, but he raised me as a Russian. There were things that sucked about my life in Russia, sure, but it was _mine_. Given the choice, I’d go back to Russia in a heartbeat. Here, I may not have to worry about bills or food or clothes, but I get no say in my life. I get told what to do and where to go, usually with no explanations! Grandpa stopped doing that when I was three! Even the schools, or Lilia, they’d at least give me an explanation for why I had to do something!” He stopped and glared at his father, tension finally easing a little at the chance to say this. “Your system _sucks_ , and your country sucks. I haven’t found any reason to feel like I belong here, that this is my home. My parents rarely have time for me, my uncle and tutor is a complete airhead…”

“Vitya is not an airhead. He plays the part well, but dig under the surface a little. He’s really very smart.”

“Whatever. Alyona’s cute, but she’s two. I still don’t have any friends, and I never cared much about that in Russia but here? I don’t have friends because I don’t know anyone outside of my family at all, and no one here is my age!” Some of the servants were, and he’d tried talking to them, but they always made excuses to leave as soon as they possibly could. Befriending them probably wasn’t going to work.

“Mila is.”

Yuri managed to cut off the scream of frustration before it could become loud or long enough to get servants running in. “Mila’s off with her actual friends more often than not, because she has that freedom, she gets time where she can do whatever she wants. I’m lucky if I get fifteen minutes between tutoring and whatever social functions you have set up for me or ceremony there is to go be bored out of my mind at or extra lessons Viktor’s got planned. I am going crazy here, and I _hate_ it.”

“Well, after tonight, you should have some friends. I’ll talk to Vitya about backing off a little with the lessons – after all, you can’t be expected to get to know them without having time to enjoy yourselves. The social functions should ease up for a while, too. What else can I do to help you be more comfortable here, to consider this your home?”

Send me back to Russia, Yuri wanted to say. He didn’t. “I haven’t had a chance to dance since I got here. Find me some time where I can dance. I’m not expecting to be able to train like I was back ho… back in Russia, but I miss it. Even just a few hours a week will help me burn off some of this anger. And let me get a cat.”

Ludomir blinked. “A cat?”

“A cat. Surely you have cats in Kardovistan? If you don’t, I’m running away.”

“No, we have cats, it’s just that I’m confused. How is adding another responsibility on top of everything else supposed to help you?”

“Haven’t you ever had a pet?” Ludomir shook his head. “Ugh, this fucking country. Pets are a responsibility but they’re also a source of joy. I had a cat for a while in Russia, so I know what to do to take care of one, and nothing made me happier than coming home from a hard dance training session to curl up by the fire with my cat near enough that I could hear her purr. You’ll understand, if you let me have a cat.”

Ludomir stared at Yuri for a long time. Finally, he shook his head. “All right. Consider your lessons for today canceled. Tell Viktor to come see me. Find Mi… no, I can’t send Mila with you. Get Georgi to take you to get yourself a cat and whatever else you’ll need. I still don’t understand, but if it will make you happier… it’s worth a try.”

“Why can’t you send Mila?” If this was some stupid purity bullshit, he was going to kick his father. Mila was his cousin. Technically, she was Ludomir’s cousin, but close enough. Anyone who thought Yuri would mess around with her needed their head examined.

“Because Mila’s day is going to be taken up with your fiancée. Between her and Alyona, she was the obvious choice. Irina, of course, has her own preparations to attend to.”

“Oh.” Hard to argue with that. Yuri took off to pass along the messages and go get himself a cat.


	4. Chapter 4

Cécile woke up early. As tired as she’d been the night before, rising early had been drilled into her all her life. She was still a little tired, but not to the point where she wanted to go back to sleep. On the other hand, who knew when she’d get a chance? There was going to be some kind of ceremony today, and that probably meant a long night. At least she wouldn’t have school on top of everything else.

She tried to go back to sleep, but it wasn’t working. Eventually, she gave up and got out of bed. There were clothes laid out for her, not her own, but clearly meant for her. The shirt was all right, a simple red and white T-shirt, but Cécile would have to figure out who to talk to so she could explain that she didn’t wear shorts. For now, she went ahead and put them on. After all, she was expecting to spend the day getting ready for the ceremony that night, so it’s not like she was going to be going out anywhere.

There was a knock on the door, and Cécile opened it. There was a red-haired girl there, a little older than Cécile but not much. “Hi! I’m Mila, and I’m here to spend the day with you. Hungry?”

“Yeah, I guess. What are we doing today?” Preparations for the ceremony could very well take all day, if they were going to go all-out. If not, Cécile wanted to go see the castle and the land, especially if there was a stable. She’d never been allowed to have a horse back home, but maybe she could here.

“We’ve got some time before we have to do anything. It’s gonna get annoying this afternoon, for both of us, but until then we can just chill, or I can show you around, as long as we avoid Otabek and Yuri.”

Ugh. When was she going to get to meet her future husband? And being separated from Otabek sucked. She liked him, and he was familiar. “Why are we avoiding them?”

“Because you’re not supposed to see them before the ceremony. Yeah, it’s kind of dumb, especially since you already know Otabek, but it’s tradition.”

Everyone had their traditions, and a lot of them would look dumb to outsiders. Cécile wasn’t going to question this too much. It was similar to the tradition of not seeing your bride or groom before the wedding. “Okay, so who are you?”

“Yuri’s first cousin once removed. My mom was King Radoslav’s younger sister. Everyone’s assuming you and I will be friends because we’re close to the same age. It’ll be nice to have another girl around the castle!”

That was one thing Cécile missed from home already. Back home, she’d had her siblings around. Here, she didn’t know, but she didn’t think Yuri had siblings. “You’re the only one?”

“Well, there’s Viktor’s daughter Alyona, but she’s two. Families tend to be small around here. They tell me it’s different where you’re from?”

“Yeah, I’m one of eleven kids, my mom was one of seven, and my dad was one of thirteen.” She’d always known it wasn’t exactly normal, but knowing that hadn't prepared her for seeing it. Everything was so quiet and empty here.

“Wow. Everyone thought Mom was weird for wanting to have more than two.”

Cécile found herself reassessing her future once again. She hadn’t wanted to go quite as nuts as her mom or grandmothers, but she’d always assumed she’d end up having several kids. “So what do consorts do around here, if not act as baby factories?”

“Depends on the consort. Queen Irina spends most of her time managing the kingdom’s finances and dealing with the rich people and outside business people. The queen before her wasn’t involved in running the kingdom much at all, because she was a brilliant artist and devoted most of her time to that. A lot of the art you’ll see around here is hers. You’ll have to figure out what you’re doing with Yuri, what he wants to delegate and what you’re going to be good at and enjoy doing. For the first few years, it’ll probably be school or tutoring. If you and Yuri want to have a big family, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t do the baby factory thing. People might look at you funny, but Irina gets that because she handles the money stuff. Every consort gets judged for not being what someone expects them to.”

“Huh.” Now Cécile was glad her parents had insisted on educating her properly. If she could do whatever she wanted to do, she needed to figure out what that was. It was going to be fun figuring that out. “What do you do?”

“For now, nothing. I’m starting at the university this fall. Probably with Otabek, if he wants to go and doesn’t want to wait for Yuri. When I finish university, I’m going to be getting married, and we haven’t made plans yet for if I’m going there or they’re coming here.”

“They?” From what Otabek had told her, she was assuming that polygamy was unusual even in Kardovistan, but maybe not.

“It’s not like you, I’m only marrying Michele, but he and his sister Sara are inseparable and Sara’s my best friend. If he comes here, she’d likely come with him.”

That sounded nice to Cécile. “So am I marrying both Yuri and Otabek, or just Yuri and sharing him with Otabek? I’m not clear on that.”

Mila held up her hands in a shrug. “I have no idea! I figure they’ll clarify that tonight, and if they don’t, that means it’s up to you guys to decide.”

 

The morning passed quickly. After a good breakfast and a chance to change into proper pants, Mila took Cécile on a tour of the castle, and introduced her to her parents. “I wonder where Georgi is. He’s usually around.”

“Georgi?”

“My half-brother. Mom’s kid by her first husband. He’s a sweetheart, but he can be a bit dramatic.” Mila shoved her hands in her pockets. “He’d better not be running off after Anya again. I don’t know how she can make it any clearer that she doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

“She could stab him. That usually causes people to get the point.”

Mila groaned. “I know that was a joke, but it may come to that. When Anya first backed out of the engagement, I couldn’t understand why, but now that he’s been so awful about accepting things, I get it. Michele’s got his faults, but he at least understands the word no.”

 

Immediately after lunch, Cécile and Mila were sent to the showers and told to get themselves as clean as possible. Once that was done, there were servants to dry and style their hair, do their makeup, and help them get dressed in their ceremonial clothes. For Cécile, this was a bright red dress with a poofy, ruffled skirt and long fitted sleeves, with a white silk robe embroidered with flowering vines over it that came to just above her knees. On closer look, she noticed that the leaves on the vine weren’t typical vine leaves, but maple leaves. Mila’s outfit was similar, only a bright pink dress with a dark blue robe, and hers didn’t have the maple leaves. The shoes, to Cécile’s surprise and great joy, were perfectly sensible black ankle boots with only a very small heel. Standing for hours was not going to be a problem.

Dinner was extremely awkward, and Cécile was glad that she’d eaten well at lunch. To protect their clothes, the girls had to wear giant bibs, and the food was designed to not drip or leave crumbs or grease if dropped, which meant that there wasn’t much in the way of flavor either. Mila rolled her eyes. “I hate this. At least the boys are getting the same treatment on this one. Which probably means they’re going to be cranky, you know how boys get when they’re hungry?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally get to meet each other! Sort of. Very formally.

He had his cat. Yuri kept telling himself that as he scrubbed and did his hair and prepared for yet another stupid ceremony. At least this one, he probably wasn’t going to stand around being decorative while his dad and the oracles did all the work. He would never admit to the curiosity about his fiancés, but under his simmering rage and burning frustration, it was there. The girl, he could make some guesses. The only reason he could imagine someone agreeing to move to a foreign country she’d never heard of to be a baby factory was that she was a good little docile princess who did whatever her parents said to. Exactly the kind of person Yuri had no patience with. He was probably not going to like her much.

The guy… he had more potential. It was still an odd situation, agreeing to move to a country he’d never heard of to marry some guy, but knowing Kardovi secrecy Yuri would not be surprised to find out his fiancé had no idea he was getting into a polygamous arrangement. It would be interesting to see if he would back out once he learned. That kind of drama would make the ceremony way more interesting than any of the ones Yuri had been to yet.

The ceremonial clothing wasn’t as bad as it could be. At least he didn’t have to wear a stupid tie. One small blessing, although Nikolai encouraged him to keep a tie in case he needed to go to a formal occasion somewhere else. The black leather boots were even pretty cool, although the dorky red pants tucked into them were decidedly not. The black robe with the red flame pattern, Yuri loved. It looked awesome and hid how small he was still. Looking at his dad and his uncle, Yuri was pretty sure the growth spurt would come eventually, but until then he was stuck being tiny.

Unlike usual, it wasn’t a servant who came to fetch Yuri for the ceremony. It was one of the oracles, Fyodor, who Yuri knew better than he knew any of the others. That wasn’t saying much, but at least it was something. “What’s about to happen?”

 

Of all the instructions, the one that had Yuri the most confused was “bring your cat.” He was not going to complain, he’d expected to be in trouble for getting cat hair on the fancy clothes cuddling him goodbye. He was confused because he’d only had Potya a few hours, so why was he planned on for the ceremony?

Having Potya beside him as he settled into the fancy chair helped calm his annoyance, as did having some idea what was going on. Right now, there was a curtain between him and the audience, so he could take some time to think about what to say to welcome Otabek and Cécile to hell. At least he knew their names, now. He listened with one ear as King Ludomir thanked the assorted nobles for coming, and praised Yuri as a highly intelligent and spirited fighter who could make great things happen. He reminded them about the prophecy stating that Yuri would bring a golden age to Kardovistan, if properly guided.

At a signal from Fyodor, Yuri sat up straight, Potya jumping off his lap to curl up at his feet. The curtain went up, allowing Yuri to see the assembled crowd. There were a lot of people, but not as many as Yuri had been afraid of. Fewer than there had been at the university’s graduation. No one Yuri didn’t recognize, even if he couldn’t put names to half of them.

Cécile was brought in first. She looked great in her fancy clothes, if somewhat uncomfortable dealing with the poofy skirt. She was gorgeous, too, her black hair standing out against fair skin, and blue eyes practically glowing with the makeup around them. At least she’d be fun to look at, even if he was right that she was going to be boring. The oracle escorting her, Ksenia, curtsied to Yuri. “Presenting your bride-to-be, Princess Cécile of Quebec. Her family sends only glowing recommendations, and trusts that you will find her useful and acceptable.”

It took a tap on his shoulder from Fyodor for Yuri to realize that there wasn’t some long speech coming to elaborate on those glowing recommendations. While nice for getting this over with, it didn’t exactly give him much to go on for welcoming her. He stood, taking care not to kick Potya accidentally. “Welcome to Kardovistan, Cécile. I hope that your dreams of what this could be come true.”

“Thank you, Yuri.” Cécile, at a sign from Ksenia, stepped forward and held out a hand to Yuri, who fumbled his way through kissing it. She stepped to one side of the throne, standing beside it while Yuri sat back down.

Otabek came in, dressed similarly to Yuri – black boots, loose yellow trousers tucked into them that somehow managed to look cool on him instead of dorky like everyone else Yuri had seen wearing them, and his robe was turquoise embroidered with gold suns. It looked badass on him, and Yuri envied his ability to pull it off. This guy looked like he was either going to be awesome or a complete asshole, depending on whether his confidence tipped over into ego.

Radoslav, Otabek’s escort, stopped them just in front of Yuri and Cécile. “Prince Otabek of Kazakhstan, your highness. Your fiancé, as determined by the oracles and spoken over your mother while she carried you.”

This time, Yuri was a little more prepared for the shortness of the introduction. “Welcome to Kardovistan, Otabek. I look forward to doing great things together.”

“We will, I’m sure.” Otabek stepped forward, holding out his hand. Yuri took it in a strong handshake. Otabek moved to a position on the other side of the throne from Cécile, and Yuri let himself relax a little as he sat back down. He was done with speeches for a while.

King Ludomir took back over the hosting duties. “To welcome our new members of the royal family, we invite all of you to a screening of the greatest Kardovi movie ever made, the award-winning film _Heart in the Prophecy_.” Beside him, Yuri heard Otabek give a soft groan, and he glanced up. There was no change in expression on his face, but something about the tenseness in his shoulders gave Yuri the impression that Otabek was not looking forward to the movie.

Yuri once again stood, offering one hand to Cécile and the other to Otabek. Cécile picked up Potya to carry in her free arm, and Yuri pouted a little as Potya settled in comfortably on her hip. Oh well, at least Potya was coming to the movie. The three of them and their oracle handlers made their way to a fancy theater, where they were taken to a balcony. Otabek stared at the empty table in the front of the box, eyebrows drawn together, but he didn’t say anything about it as they took their seats and waited for the others to settle in.

It only took two minutes for Yuri to get bored with the movie. Lots of fancy cinematography, but they hadn’t met a character yet, just swooped around the plains of Kardovistan. The most interesting thing was the eagle swooping through the shot. By the ten-minute mark, some characters had shown up, but there was no sign of the plot unless the plot was going to be about going to the city to do the monthly shopping.

Thankfully, that’s when Fyodor tapped Yuri’s shoulder. “It’s time.”

“Oh thank god. Come on, guys.” Yuri hopped to his feet and headed for the exit, this time carrying Potya himself. Cécile and Otabek followed him, exchanging glances of confusion. Apparently their oracles hadn’t warned them the way Yuri’s had.


	6. Chapter 6

They were taken to a room not far from the theater, where there were comfortable chairs, a piano, two tables, and a set of shelves along the walls filled with board games, cards, crafting supplies, art supplies, and books. Yuri had never seen this room before, and he was rather pissed off about that. Push aside the tables and chairs, put in a barre, and it would be great for dance practice.

“Not that I’m not grateful to get out of having to sit through that stupid movie, but what’s going on?” Otabek asked. “Why are we here?”

“The intent of this evening is to show off the new engagement and to allow Prince Yuri to enjoy himself. It was felt that the way Yuri would most enjoy spending the evening is a chance to get to know the two of you without everyone staring and having to be on formal etiquette, and if he got a chance to snub some Kardovi traditions, so much the better.” He bowed to Yuri. “Radoslav, Ksenia, and I will be next door if you require anything. Otabek, Cécile, I know you two were promised that your handlers would be with you every step of the way, but this is meant to be a chance for the three of you to speak freely with no ceremonial requirements. For the next two and a half hours, the three of you are simply young people getting to know each other.” He left, with the other oracles behind him, leaving the three of them staring at each other.

“You’ve seen that movie?” Yuri asked.

“Yes. There are people out there who really get into it, there’ll be a lot of crying, it’s considered a great story… which it would be, if they’d cut about half the pointless blathering and get to the fucking point,” Otabek said. Yuri stared at him. When would Otabek have seen the movie? “I lived here for a year when I was thirteen, before they sent me off to Canada. I still haven’t gotten any kind of explanation for why they did that.”

“To meet Cécile?” If so, that was completely unfair. He was the reason the two of them were going to be family, he should've been the one to get to know them.

“Who knows? It’s not like she’s my wife.” Otabek paused, frowning very slightly. “Or is she? Your mom said to ask the oracles or wait until tonight, Radoslav told me he couldn’t answer that.”

“Mila and Ksenia said the same thing,” Cécile added. “I know we have more ceremony to get through once the movie’s finished, but do you know?”

“Nope. Not a clue. What makes you think they tell me anything? It’s only my entire life, why should I get to know anything about it?” Potya jumped up into Yuri’s lap as soon as he settled into one of the chairs. “Only thing I know is I’m marrying both of you, when my dad dies or retires I’m going to be king, and I can understand why the prophecy thinks I’d burn the kingdom to the ground because I am seriously tempted. I’m sorry you two are stuck here. I hate it.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make it better for you.” Cécile started to curl up in another chair, but got tangled up in the skirt of her dress and ended up just sitting normally. “Do you go to school, or have a private tutor?”

“Tutor. My uncle Viktor. Why?”

“Because I’m assuming that they’re going to have me studying with you." Yuri had to agree with that. It's not like he got much time when he wasn't studying. "Otabek’s done with school unless he’s going to university, but you and I are close enough in age we’re probably at the same general level.”

“That one, they specifically told me to ask you about,” Otabek said. “Irina said that she’d prefer I wait the two years until you two are ready to go, so we can all go together. I agree, but it’s your decision.”

“I don’t…” Yuri stopped himself. If Otabek went to university, that would limit the time he could spend with Yuri and Cécile. Which, if Otabek turned out to be horrible, would be a good thing, but if he turned out to be cool, would suck. “I know the university will make a special exception to let you into whatever programs or classes you want whenever you want, so no need to decide right now. What do you guys do for fun?”

“Ice skating, playing piano, guitar, and French horn, in the rare moment I got left unsupervised for ten minutes I’d sneak out to the stables to learn about horses, and going to concerts. Less fun but mandatory ‘hobbies’ my parents had me take up include needlepoint, dance, and drawing.”

“You don’t like to dance?” Not promising, considering how much of his life was devoted to it.

“Not the formal ballroom stuff, ballet’s all right but not my thing. At a concert where I can just do my own thing, that’s fun, but that’s not ladylike.”

Yuri snorted. The ballroom stuff was boring, that much he could agree with. “Screw ladylike. Have fun.”

“Exactly my attitude. I’d behave when my parents were watching, but if they weren’t around, I did whatever I wanted.”

Yuri revised his opinion of Cécile. That was a great attitude. “What about you, Otabek?”

“Ice skating, playing guitar and bass, mixing electronic music, I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to do it here but in Canada I spent a lot of time working on and riding motorcycles.”

That sounded cool. If it was up to Yuri, Otabek would have all the motorcycles he wanted. “Why wouldn’t you be allowed?”

“In Kazakhstan, that would be considered work beneath the dignity of a prince. In Canada, no one cared, it kept me busy and happy and out of trouble, but Kardovistan’s closer to Kazakhstan than Canada.” Otabek leaned against the back of a chair. “I’m not looking to cause too much trouble. The motorcycle isn’t a battle worth picking if I have to fight for it. Rather save it for important stuff.”

“You don’t like trouble?” Once again, Yuri found himself revising his initial expectations. Cécile actually seemed pretty cool, while Otabek… he was the one who was supposed to guide Yuri to lead Kardovistan to a golden age, but if he was a giant stick in the mud, Yuri was much more likely to rebel.

Otabek raised one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “I have no problem with trouble. I just prefer it to be over things that are actually important, like no one trying to force Cécile into spending the next twenty-five years either pregnant or nursing.”

Yuri scoffed. That one, Yuri had a lot of say about. Kids, sure, but when Cécile said she was done, Yuri was going with that. “Yeah, that’s not happening. I don’t know about the motorcycle thing. I had to fight Dad to let me get a cat, though.”

“Viktor has a dog…” Otabek said, brow furrowing.

“Huh.” Now that Otabek mentioned it, his dad’s reaction to getting a cat seemed even weirder. “Hope you guys like cats, because I’m not going to be without one long.”

“Any thoughts on what you’re gonna want us to do?” Cécile asked. “I’ve never really thought about it, because my parents confused the crap out of me and made me think I was heading to Kazakhstan and consorts there are trophies and baby factories and otherwise kept out of the way, so if you have ideas, I’m happy to listen.”

He hadn't, but he had an obvious answer ready. “If I decide not to burn the country down, one of you’s gonna need to be the diplomat. I’ve got too much of a temper.”

“Sounds like your job, Cécile.”

Cécile grinned and punched Otabek’s shoulder. “Yeah, no kidding, although there may be times we need someone who’ll shout at them like Yuri or just sit there and let them rant until they realize how stupid they sound, like you.”

Right. These two knew each other. They’d been living together. Yuri was going to be a third wheel with them. He tried not to let that bother him, but it wasn’t going to be easy. “Other than that, I dunno. I don’t have any idea what parts of being a king I’m gonna be any good at, and you guys can tell me to fuck off and do my job myself.”

“Pretty sure telling the king to fuck off is considered treason,” Otabek said. “Which, you could grant us a pardon, but still. Bad position to put myself in.”

Yuri stared at Otabek. How in the hell was this guy supposed to influence him to do anything? Cécile, though, started giggling. When she noticed the look on Yuri’s face, she pulled herself together. “Otabek’s got a really dry sense of humor. You’ll learn the tells, I promise. That was a joke.”

“If it’s important enough, like you try to tell me I can’t hang out with Cécile unless you’re there to supervise, I will tell you to fuck off. If you tell us not to be together as anything but friends, I’ll respect that, but I am not letting you take my friend from me.”

That was a nice spark, although not helping with the third wheel sense. “I’m not gonna tell you that. The oracles say something, that’s on them, but it doesn’t really make much sense to tell you you can’t be together if you’re both with me. Not like we’re likely to have much trouble telling who any kid of Cécile’s dad is.”

Otabek’s head tilted slightly. “There’s also no reason for us to expect to be together. No reason to settle that tonight unless the oracles have something to say. See what happens when the three of us start hanging out.”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap. You two have lived together the past, what, four years?” Otabek nodded. “And you don’t know if you wanna be with her or not?”

“No, I don’t, because I don’t know you. If it’s gonna cause problems in my relationship with you, or hers, then I’m happy to think of her as a friend or sister.” Otabek straightened up, staring Yuri in the eyes. “Got a problem with that?”

If Yuri could have answered coherently, he would have, but right now the blood seemed to have decided to leave his brain and head south. He could not form a word, let alone a sentence. Cécile got to her feet and came over to him, petting his hair. “Way to go, Otabek, I think you broke him.”

“I’m fine.” Yuri started to push Cécile off him the way he did Mila when she got like this, but changed his mind. This actually felt kind of nice, and, well, she was his fiancée. “What do you guys wanna do? Either of you play chess?”

Both did. Otabek got the board and set it up, while Cécile headed for the piano. Yuri tried to pay attention to the game and to Cécile’s playing, but realized quickly that if he did that, he didn’t stand a chance in the game. Otabek was too good for him to halfass this. At least he was good enough that Otabek couldn’t halfass it either. Otabek ended up winning, but it was a good game. Otabek nodded. “Good. Something the three of us are all about the same level on. It’s somewhere to start, at least.”

“Yeah.” Yuri started resetting the board. “So what is it about you that’s supposed to guide me toward not burning everything down and going back to Russia?”

“Hell if I know. If the oracles know what I’m supposed to do, they sure haven’t told me. If they’d let me stay here until you got here, it would make sense, give me time to get to know the country pretty well and help you find the good side of it you haven’t.” Otabek snorted. “They wouldn’t tell me anything about you, either, other than that you were living in exile until you were sixteen. I’m glad I overheard my parents talking about you, otherwise I would’ve thought Cécile was the Kardovi heir in exile. As awkward as this is, it would’ve been a million times worse if the two of us had shown up after four years of thinking we were going to be married eventually.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t work out too well, especially if the oracles tell us that you two can’t be together.” Yuri stared at the board. “I don’t care. You guys do whatever you want. Just don’t leave me out.”

“Would it be okay with you if I came to the tutoring with you and Cécile? I have a high school diploma, but I could use the stuff about Kardovistan.”

Yuri paused in arranging pawns. “You _want_ to go to school when you don’t have to?”

“Well, no, but I have some good reasons why I should. There’s the lessons about Kardovistan, there’s keeping in practice so I haven’t been out of school for two years when we start university, but the biggest one is if your tutoring is anything like mine was, you’re gonna be in there half the day, almost every day, and I don’t want to lose that much time with you and Cécile.”

“Oh. Viktor's got the final say, I'm sure, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't. Probably be useful, too.” Yuri looked over at Cécile, who was focused on her piano. “Do you dance?”

“Theoretically. I know how it’s supposed to work, I can handle a ball without stepping on anyone’s toes if I have to, but I prefer to avoid dancing myself. I love to watch, though." Fair enough. Yuri could work with that. "You grew up in Russia, I’m guessing you at least know the basics of ice skating?”

“Yeah, for a while I wanted to be a figure skater, but Lilia and Grandpa encouraged me to go for ballet instead." At the time, Yuri had just assumed it was because Lilia was teaching him basically for free while figure skating was going to cost them a lot of money. Now he thought it might have something to do with Kardovistan not having an official figure skating body and therefore not being eligible for competitions, so if Yuri had tried to compete, there would end up being a ton of awkward questions. "I haven’t been in a long time, but I bet if you and Cécile and I went skating I’d be able to keep up.” That sounded like fun – and he’d bet that Viktor would let them go, too, he and Yuuri had bonded through skating together.

Cécile came over to play Otabek. Yuri stayed to watch their game instead of going off to do his own thing. Their game was quicker, the two of them obviously familiar with each other’s style. For once, he could understand the Kardovi secrecy – this would be a lot easier if his fiancés weren’t already good friends. At least Otabek seemed determined not to leave him out, so there was a chance it could still work out. Despite initial misgivings, both Otabek and Cécile seemed reasonably cool, and there were things in common to build on.


End file.
